Abstract
Objective
To record the medicinal plants of Uthapuram Village, Madurai district, Tamilnadu, South India for the first time and the usage of these medicinal plants to remediate the diseases among the peoples.
Methods
Explorative field trips were made to the village for about twelve months from April 2012 to May 2013 to survey the medicinal plants and collect the information from the villagers.
Results
From this study 52 species of valuable medicinal plants belonging to 36 families were recorded and their ethnomedicinal values were collected from the village peoples.
Conclusion
This study focuses the importance, utilization and conservation of the medicinal plants among the people.
Keywords: Traditional medicine, Medicinal plants, Uthapuram, Madurai District
1. Introduction
Biodiversity brings enormous benefits to mankind from direct harvesting of plants and animals for food, medicine, fuel construction material, and other uses to aesthetic, cultural, recreational and research values. Benefits of ecosystem include climate and water regulation; the creation and protection of soils, helping to reduce floods and soil erosion, shoreline protection, providing natural controls of agricultural pests and promote creative evolution. People have been using medicinal plants from time immemorial for the treatment of various types of disease traditionally. Traditional medicinal plants use in India is about 4000 years old. Herbs had been used by all cultures throughout history. It was an integral part of the development. About 80% of the people in developing countries use traditional medicines for their health care[1]. In less developed/developing countries 80% of the people still rely only on traditional medicine obtained from local plants and 85% of traditional medicine involve the use of plant extracts[2]. Since adequate hospital facilities and allopathic doctors are absent in much of the tropics, any destruction of tropical forests would concomitantly destroy the primary healthcare network involving local plants and traditional ‘doctor’[3]. About 90% of medicinal plants used in industries are collected from the wild. Over 70% of the plant collection involves destructive harvesting because of the use of the parts like roots, bark, wood, stem and the whole plant in case of herbs. The assessments done so far for the prioritized native medicinal species have resulted in the assignment of threatened status to nearly 200 plant species[4]. In view of the tremendously growing world population, increasing anthropogenic activities, rapidly eroding natural ecosystem, etc. The natural habitat for a great number of herbs and trees are dwindling. Many of them are facing extinction. According to the Red list of threatened species 44 plant species are critically endangered, 113 endangered and 87 vulnerable in India alone[5].
The period since the emergence of human, has displayed an ongoing biodiversity reduction named as Holocene extinction. Ecologists prefers the acronym HIPPO standing for habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, human over population and over harvesting are the major reasons for biodiversity reduction. Though India has rich biodiversity and one among the twelve major diversity centers, the growing demand is putting a heavy train on the existing resources warning a number of species to be either threatened or endangered category. Southern India includes the two major bio-geographic zones the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats. The Western Ghats region is known for the wealth of its biodiversity and is known as one of the 18 hot spots of biodiversity recognized assess the globe. It is estimated to harbor approximately 2 000 known medicinal species. Of the nearly 1 800 species of higher plants listed in the Red data book 171 are know from Tamil Nadu[6]. Most if these species are restricted to southern peninsula. Several workers were reported the utility of plants for the treatment of various diseases by the different tribal and rural people inhabiting in various regions of Tamil Nadu[7]–[13].
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Description of the study area
For the survey and documentation of medicinal plants, intensive exploration trips were conducted for twelve months from April 2012 to May 2013 to the ephemerals in Uthapuram Madurai district, Tamilnadu, South India (Figure 1). Geographically, the entire area of Uthapuram village is lies between 9°51′58.22″ N and 9°52′35.54″ N latitude and 77°42′36.61″ E and 77°43′18.06″ E longitude. The altitude of the study area is about 209.4 m (687 feet) above mean sea level. The village is spread over an area of about 4 189 sq km and is bounded on the North and Northeast by Tadayampatti village, on the Southeast and South by E. Kottaippatti village, on the Southwest by Elumalai town and on the West by Vadakkupatti. Temperature scarcely fluctuates in the year, with the mean monthly minimum and maximum temperatures of 30 °C and 36 °C respectively and annual rainfall reaches 600-850 mm.
Figure 1. Location of the area studied in Madurai District, Tamilnadu, South India.
2.2. Collection of plants
The plants were collected both in flowering and fruiting condition. In case of no flowering and fruiting conditions during collection, the plant twig with few leaves were collected for proper identification. The collected plant twigs were tagged properly with proper accession number and herbarium were prepared.
2.3. Field observation and records
For the medicinal plants, which were used by the healers and households, their vernacular names in Tamil were recorded. All the plants collected were tagged and the data regarding details of the plants were recorded properly and all the specimens collected from the field work were identified with Flora of Presidency of Madras and the Flora of Palani Hills were used to ascertain the nomenclature finally deposited as herbarium in Department of Biology, Gandhigram Rural Institute-Deemed University, Gandhigram, Tamilnadu, South India[14]–[22].
3. Results
3.1. Medicinally important plants
In the present study there are 52 medicinally important plant species belonging to 36 families were collected from the Uthapuram at all season and their botanical name, family name, Common or vernacular name, morphology of the parts used and their medicinal properties were given in Table 1. Euphorbiaceae and Lamiaceae is represented by the highest number of species (4 species) followed by Cucurbitaceae, Solanaceae, Rutaceae (3 species), four families were represented by 2 species and 27 families represented by a single species.
Table 1. The list of traditionally important medicinal plants in Uthapuram with their common/Botanical/Family names, morphology and their medicinal uses.
| Common name | Botanical name | Morphology of parts used | Family | Medicinal Use |
| Aamanaku | Ricinus communis (L.) | Leaves | Euphorbiaceae | It cures the eye related issues |
| Arukampul | Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. | Leaves | Poaceae | To increase memory power |
| Yerukku | Calotropis procera (L.) R. Br. | Flower | Asclepiadaceae | It helps to maintain youth hood in our body |
| Elumichi maram | Citrus lemon (L.) | Fruit | Rutaeceae | It helps to maintain body temperature moderately |
| Itchi mara pattai | Ficus glomerata (L.) | bark | Moraceae | To control tooth sensitive |
| Kaatu nochchi | Vitex negundo (L.) | Leaves | Verbenaceae | To cure headache |
| Kandankaththiri | Solanum surattense (Burm.f.) | Unriped frit | Solanaceae | To control tooth sensitive |
| Kari vepilai | Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. | Leaves | Rutaceae | For strong and natural hair |
| Keela nelli | Phyllanthus amarus (Schum. Thonn.) | Leaves | Euphorbiaceae | To cure jaundice |
| Kovamapalam | Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt | Fruit | Cucurbitaceae | It helps to purify the blood |
| Kuppameni | Acalypha indica (L.) | Leaves | Euphorbiaceae | It cures skin allergy and itch |
| Latchakattakeerai | Pisonia grandis R. Br. | Leaves | Nyctaginaeae | Heart health |
| Manjanathi maram | Morinda pubescens (J.E. Smith) | Leaves | Rubiaceae | It helps to improve our nervous power |
| Manjakilangu | Curcuma zedoaria (Christm.) Roscoe | Stem | Zingiberaceae | It is used as germ` fighter and also helps to skin treatment |
| Maruthani | Lawsonia inermis (L.) | Leaves | Lythroceae | It used to make our body cool |
| Milagu thakkali | Physalis angulate (L.) | Leaves | Solonaceae | It helps to control haemorrhage |
| Mookuthi | Vernonia cinerea Less. | Leaves | Asteraceae | To control eye irritation |
| Murunkai | Moringa oleifera (L.) | Leaves | Moringaceae | To increase fertility in man, cure stomach pain |
| Nandhiya vattai | Ervatamia divaricata (L.) Burkill | Flowers | Aboceae | It changes the skin color as brighter as possible |
| Naayurivi | Achyranthes aspera (L.) | Leaves | Amaranthaceae | It helps to cure left injuries |
| Oomathai | Datura metal (L.) | Leaves | Solanaceae | Cure cold |
| Paalattam chedi | Euphorbia hirta (L.) | Leaves | Euphorbiaceae | It keeps our body temperature as cool |
| Paavakkaai | Momordica charantia (L.) | Unriped fruit | Cucurbitacea | It controls the sugar levels and fight with germs |
| Pappali | Carica papaya (L.) | Leaves and fruits | Caricaceae | It cures dengue fever |
| Pasalikeerai | Portula caoleracea (L.) | Leaves | Portulaceae | It used to control nerves weakness |
| Thulasi | Ocimum basilium (L.) | Leaves | Lamiaceae | To cure nasal related troubles |
| Pirandai | Cissus quadrangularis (L.) | Stems | Vitaceae | It is used to control sugar |
| Periyamookuthi | Parthenium hysterophorus (L.) | Leaves | Orchidaceaea | To control eye irritation |
| Puthina | Mentha piperata (L.) | Leaves | Lamiaceae | It mind helps to keep our tooth |
| Rose | Rosa indica (L.) | Flowers | Rosaceae | Whitening and refreshing |
| Thuththi | Abutilon indicum (Link) Sweet | Leaves | Malvaceae | Relieve legpain and curepiles |
| Sembaruthi | Hibiscus rosasinensis (L.) | Flowers | Malvaceae | To purify blood |
| Siruthumbai | Leucus aspera (Willd.) Link | Flowers & leaves | Lamiaceae | It helps to reduce cold effect |
| Chotthu kathalai | Aloe Vera (Mill.) | Leaves | Aloaceae | Keep our body cool and hair conditioning also |
| Suraikai | Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standley | Unriped fruit | Cucurbitaceae | It helps to reduce swelling in hands and legs |
| Sakkaravalli kilangu | Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. | Tuber | Convolvulaceae | It helps to control diabetes and general weakness. |
| Thandankeerai | Amaranthus spinosus (L.) | Leaves | Amaranthaceae | It keeps our industine very clean |
| Thatha poo chedi | Tridax procumbens (L.) | Leaves | Trapaceae | It is used to cure the wounds |
| Thenga puttu ilai | Commelina benghalensis (L.) | Leaves | Commelinaceae | It gives mother liquos vitamin |
| Thaiva ilai | Gynandropsis pentaphylla DC. | Leaves | Capparaceae | It is used to prevent ear problem |
| Thulasi | Ocimum tenuiflorum L. | Leaves | Lamiaceae | It cures cough and cold |
| Vazhai thandu | Musa paradisiaca L. | Stem | Musaceae | It helps to avoid stomach and kidney stones |
| Vazhai poo | Musa paradisiaca L. | flowers | Musaceae | It helps to avoid stomach and kidney stones |
| Agathi | Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Poiret | Leaves | Fabaceae | It cures strange in the knees |
| Vepa maram | Azadirachta indica A. Juss. | Leaves | Meliaceae | It is used as germ fighter |
| Vethalai | Piper betle (L.) | Leaves | Piperaceae | It is used to digestion |
| Vilvela maram | Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. Serr. | Fruits | Rutaceae | It used to youth hood |
| Vinni ilai | Ruellia elegans Poiret | Leaves | Acanthaceae | It cures headache |
| Vengayam | Allium cepa (L.) | Stem | Liliaceaee | It is used to purify blood |
| Aavaram poo | Cassia auriculata (L.) | Flower | Caesalpiniaceae | Reduce the abdomen heat |
| Veliparuthi | Pergularia daemia (Forssk.) Chiov. | Leaves | Asclepiadoideae | Relieve headache |
| Mudakathan | Cardiospermum halicacabum (L.) | Leaves | Sapindaceae | Knee Joint pain relief, remove gas trouble |
3.2. Diseases cured by medicinal plants
The villagers used various medicinal plants to remediate variety of diseases and ailments like diarrhea, diabetes, asthma, fever, jaundice, rheumatism, wounds, cuts, stomach pain, cough, cold, poisonous bites, body heat, body pain, bowl complaint, bronchitis, dysentery, ear-ache, eczema, eye troubles, hair growth, intestinal worms, jaundice, leprosy, menstrual trouble, piles, pimples, ulcer, tooth-ache, urinary troubles, vomit, etc., the villagers used these medicinal plants in the form of juice, paste, powder, extract, decoction, cooked or raw forms.
3.3. Parts of medicinal plants used
The villagers used diverse parts of the medicinal plants based on their ability to cure disease such parts includes leaf, roots, bark, seed, fruit, flower, stem, etc. Leaves are highly used by the village peoples, it accounts for 67.30% of all parts, next predominantly used parts are fruits which includes ripened and unripened fruits it contributes 13.46% followed by flowers 13.42%, stem 7.69% and bark 1.92%.
4. Discussion
The survey of medicinal plants was done at Uthapuram Madurai district, Tamilnadu, India, and 52 important medicinal plants were observed and listed in this study. This is the first survey on medicinal plants in Uthapuram village. The plants were reported with its common/vernacular name, morphology of parts used, family and its medicinal /commercial properties. The people of Uthapuram using different morphological useful parts such as leaves, flowers bark, fruit, stem for their health care. These collected medicinal plants are used for the treatment of several diseases like dengue fever, skin diseases, knee pain, kidney stones, digestive problem, hemorrhage etc.
The major resource of medicines arising from plants and their phytochemical constituents. The phytochemical constituents and medicinal properties of most of the medicinal plants were recorded in the last few decades by a number of workers[23],[24]. These medicinal plants are subjected to various processes and are then administrated to the patients. The survey and documentation of medicinal and aromatic plants in each and every place is mandatory for easy identification of local traditional healers, conservation and sustainable utilization. The most important utilization of these plants is through medicines. However, plants and their parts and the pattern of administration vary from person to person. Thus, there is enormous scope for tribal medicines based on plant products which are yet to be studied, analyzed and documented.
The issues of medicinal plant conservation have been the focus of many formal and informal discussions at national and international forums, seminars, workshops, conferences and congresses in the last 10 years. Various conservation methods were mentioned in the past by many authors are being repeated at present. These methods include protection of wild species in-situ, cultivation in botanical gardens and collection of germplasm for establishment of germplasm banks, public information campaigns and others.
Acknowledgments
The authors are cordially grateful to the people inhabiting in Uthapuram, Madurai district because of their kind support and co-operation during the field trips and also thankful to the Department of Biology, Gandhigram Rural Institute- Deemed University, Gandhigram. This research was funded by University Grands Commission under UGC Research fellowship in Science for Meritorious students (BSR) Grant No: F.4-1/2008
Comments
Background
India is one of the treasure houses of medicinal plants in the world. These medicinal plants were used to treat various diseases and ailments. The survey of medicinal plants in particular area is important to conserve the traditionally important plants of such landscape. This paper revealed that the medicinal plants of Uthapuram and their importance.
Research frontiers
Survey and field visit are being carried out to record the medicinal plants and their importance were recorded. In this study 52 plants were recorded.
Related reports
Medicinal plants of various regions in the world can be recorded by many researchers so far, but this is the first attempt to record medicinal plants in Uthapuram.
Innovations and breakthroughs
This appears to be the first paper to report the traditional medicinal plants of Uthapuram, Madurai district, Tamilnadu, India.
Applications
There are plenty of possible applications of this work both for use in the treatment of various diseases among the rural people. The village people are using these plants from several thousands of years till today to treat many infectious and non-infectious diseases. Besides this another important application of this study is to create awareness among the rural people on traditional medicinal plants.
Peer review
The present investigation is very important because the herbal drugs are free from toxicity and side effects. The herbal drugs are also used as house hold remedy for common diseases since time immemorial. The present study mainly focuses the importance, uses and conservation of the medicinal plants used by the people of Uthapuram village.
Footnotes
Foundation Project: Supported by University Grands Commission under UGC Research fellowship in Science for Meritorious students (BSR) Grant No: F.4-1/2008.
Conflict of interest statement: We declare that we have no conflict of interest.
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